Electric range surface element assembly



April 14, 1970 D. R. SAUDER 3,505,805

- ELECTRIC RANGE SURFACEELEMENT ASSEMBLY Filed June a, 1968 INVENTOR DONALD E. SAUDER ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 14, 1970 3,506,805 ELECTRIC RANGE SURFACE ELEMENT SEMBLY Donald R. Sander, Bellville, Ohio, assignor to The Tappan Company, Mansfield,.Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed June 6, 1968, Ser. No. 735,112 Int. Cl. H05]: 3/76 US. Cl. 219451 3 'Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An electric spiral sheathed resistance held in a top plate opening by a drip bowl having an integral trim ring, with the element ends extending through the bowl and plugged into a socket mounted at the underside of the top plate by a one-piece metal bracket of inverted channel form. The socket has side bosses seized in cut-outs in the sides of the bracket and the bracket top is cut and bent to form upward tabs, one of which is attached by a fastener to the top plate.

This invention relates to electric range structure and, more particularly, to an assembly for plug-in top or surface elements of the same.

While plug-in range elements have been known and widely used for a substantial time, it is a principal object of my invention to provide such an assembly which is considerably simpler and less expensive than those with which I am familiar. The socket which provides the detachable energy connection of the element, and the cooperable terminal configuration of the latter, have in particular become more complex and costly than believed required to serve the purpose, and the present improvements in contrast employ a two-piece socket sub-assembly which can readily and cheaply be produced and installed in a range.

The socket connector is conventionally mounted within the range by attachment to the top adjacent an opening where the surface element is disposed and held, usually by separate structure including a drip bowl section through which the ends of the element extend for plugging into the socket, so that the positions of the element ends and of the socket are not directly related but only through their independent supports by the range top. Some misalignment in installation of the element may be experienced on this account, and pivotal mounting of the socket has been proposed and used for adjustment to such variation as might occur. The new assembly likewise involves separate support of the element and the socket, but in its preferred form with more assurance of the desired coincidence of the two for non-pivoting mounting of the socket.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawing setting forth in detail a certain illustrative embodiment of the invention, this being indicative, however, of but one of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:

FIG. 1 is a fragmented top plan view of an electric range surface heating assembly in accordance with the present invention, with a portion of the included structure broken away to enhance the illustration; and

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-section of the assembly as viewed from the plane of the line 2--2 in FIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, reference numeral 10 designates a portion of the top plate of an electric range or cook top in which there is a circular opening bounded by an integral downturned flange 11. It will of course be understood that the top plate will normally be provided with a plurality of such openings and each will receive a surface heating element assembly similar to the one to be described below.

A drip bowl 12 having an integral trim ring 13 is removably suspended in the opening by virtue of the ring overlying and resting on the top about the opening, with the bowl also having a horizontal element-supporting ledge 14 near the top and a bottom center opening 15 for circulation.

The bowl supports a conventional electric surface element comprising the tubular sheathed resistance element 16 arranged in a flat spiral on and attached to a spider 17 which rests on the bowl ledge 14. This element has rigid terminal sections 18 and 19 which extend downwardly from the plane of the element respectively at the inner and outer ends of the same and then laterally in parallel in the same plane through an opening 20 provided in the wall of the bowl. The terminal sections of the element extend in spaced relation under and beyond the flange 11. Each terminal section includes a relatively heavy connector wire 21 extending from an internal connection with the resistance element, through a silicone rubber plug 22, in the end of the sheath at such section and terminates in an exposed vertically oriented eye.

The ends of the element are detachably plugged into a socket comprising an elongated body 23 made of a rigid plastic or other insulation in which a pair of elongated passages 24 are provided. Spring contacts 25 are mounted in these passages into which the end connector Wires 21 of the heating element extend at one socket end into engagement with the contacts, and wires 26 extend from connections respectively with the contacts through the other socket end for connection to the energy source for the element. The end of the body 23 which receives the terminals of the element is of rectangular shape and integral square bosses 27 are formed at the respective sides immediately at such end.

The socket is mounted in position for such plugging in of the element by a bracket 28 formed from a single piece of metal to inverted channel shape. The top of this bracket overlies the top of the socket body, and the parallel side walls of the bracket have square cut-outs 29 sized to seize on the end bosses 27 of the socket body when forced on the same. The bracket side Walls are deeper than the socket to engage about the bosses at the bottom as well, and small reliefs 30 may be provided as shown at the bottom corners of the cut-outs to provide an added degree of yielding in the force fit of the bracket to the socket.

It will also be noted that the bracket cut-outs occur about half-way along the length of the bracket, with appreciable extent accordingly at each side. The bracket top at the end nearest the element is cut and bent upwardly to form a right angle tab 31 which is attached by a screw 32 to the top plate flange 11. At the other end, the bracket top is also cut and here bent upwardly as an angle 33 which engages the underside of the top plate 10 to space and hold the bracket stabilized substantially horizontal. The bracket sidewalls at the first end portions 34 preferably are bent outwardly to provide a slight divergence of the same to facilitate the plugging in of the element.

The sheath of the elementis electrically grounded in this assembly by a metal plate 35 which is fixed to and bridges the sheath end portions and conductively engages the bracket side walls 34 when the element 'is inserted. The bracket in turn is in conductive contact with the top plate through the noted atachment of the former to the latter.

It will thus be seen that the mounting bracket in this assembly is readily producible by simple metal Working and its support of the socket accomplished by an equally simple force fitting. The socket is rigidly held for the desired easy extraction and reinsertion by the housewife, for example, to remove the bowl for cleaning.

The socket and bracket sub-assembly might desirably be made adjustable to vary the vertical spacing of the socket beneath the top plate, for example, when it is to be used in differently dimensioned range tops, and one way to provide such adjustment would be to have plural vertically spaced holes in the attaching tab 31 selectively to be used for the screw fastening of the same to the flange 11.

Moreover, the use of the trim ring integral with the bowl provides more assurance that the element ends and the socket will be in working alignment, since the elementsupporting ledge of the bowl is directly positioned vertically by this ring resting on the top plate. This is in contrast to an assembly in which the trim ring is separate from the drip bowl, with two overlying flanges of the same replacing the single integral ledge disclosed herein and the former inherently adding another tolerance factor in the positioning of the ends of the element. The vertical eye formation of these ends and the contacts used does afford some relative pivoting in the contact connection with the socket rigidly held by the bracket as disclosed.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

I, therefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. In electric range structure including a top having an opening therein and a downturned flange about said opening, a surface heating element of sheathed resistance form with downwardly off-set lateraly extending terminal sections, support means for removably holding the element at said opening with its terminal sections projecting through the support means beneath said flange and the range top, an elongated socket of insulating material having a pair of openings at one end into which the terminal sections of the element extend, spring contactors in said openings conductively engaging the element terminal sections and being connected to energy supply Wires, and a separately formed bracket supporting the socket, said bracket being made of metal in inverted channel foirn and embracing the socket with appreciable projection beyond said one end of the same, the bracket at its side walls and the socket at said one end being formed with interfitting portions which unite the two, that part of the bracket projecting beyond said one end of the socket being cut and bent upwardly to form an attaching tab overlying the range top flange, a fastener securing said tab to said flange, and the otherend portion of the bracket top being cut and bent upwardly into engagement with the underside of the range top to space and stabilize the socket and bracket assembly at such location.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1, wherein the socket has side protuberances at said one end, and the bracket has side wall openings in which such protuberances are engaged to mount the socket in the bracket.

3. The combination set forth in claim 2, wherein the element support means is a bowl having an integral ledge on which the element rests and an integral top ring which overlies the range top to hold the bowl suspended in the opening.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,246,123 4/1966 Ammerman et a1. 219-451 3,328,562 6/1967 Jasionowski 219451 3,443,064 5/1969 Meng et al 2l9541 BERNARD A. GILHEANY, Primary Examiner FRED E. BELL, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 219-541 

